Kingston ReadyBoost Compatibility

The ReadyBoost device list is still growing – 364 devices tested so far, 59% of which have worked with Vista ReadyBoost.

Kingston have fared better than average with two thirds of tested devices working successfully. My own DataTraveler Elite has been running a ReadyBoost cache flawlessly for several months now.

A few days ago I received an email from Ron Bartle who pointed out the inconsistency in reports for the DataTraveler range. Some users had success with the DataTraveler 1 and U3 devices whilst others had received failure notices for the same drives, even those with identical capacities.

I contacted Kingston to see if they could shed any light on why that might be. Their reply doesn’t answer that question directly, but points out that there’s only one Kingston device that is officially ReadyBoost compatible:

So far there is only one Kingston DataTraveler which is officially compatible with Readyboost which is our DTS.

The reply went on to say that more new ReadyBoost compatible devices are on the way, and that the rest of their existing product line is still in testing for ReadyBoost compatibility.

So for now it seems the safe option is to go for the DTS. If you’re feeling brave you could try the DataTraveler Elite – it’s not officially compatible, but it’s the one I’m using as I write this and it’s had no negative reports so far… and it’s around 30% cheaper than the DTS.